Three Things We Learned from Arsenal 3-1 Burnley
Arsenal got back to their winning ways with a 3-1 home win versus a struggling Burnley side. It wasn’t always pretty and there were moments when the Gunners contrived to be their own worst enemy but in the end, the result was fairly deserved and with other results going the Gunners way, kept them in touch with the Champion’s League spot they are hunting for.
Let’s take a look at the three things we learned from Burnley’s attempt to play rugby on our football pitch.
Kolasinac Man of the Match
In the build-up to the match, we talked about how the movement of our players was going to be essential to breaking down Burnley’s low block. Kolasinac was the epitome of that all day yesterday posing the Claret and Blue issues all day long with his movement and physical approach to his outside runs.
Kola is consistent with all Arsenal players who come across as an enigma wrapped in an enigma. He was signed as a back up to Nacho Monreal and has endured ups and downs with his playing time. What we have learned in the time he has played is that as a true fullback the defensive side of the game eludes him especially in a positional sense.
However, if you play him as a wing-back something absolutely clicks for him. He just thrives in a system that needs wing backs.
Emery’s style of play is to use is wing backs/fullbacks as the width to his attack. Kola is instrumental in that style of play and yesterday his runs were exceptional and one of the reasons why Burnley got unbalanced in their defensive set up.
Not much is being said about Kola’s run in the build-up to the first goal – understandable when you see the beauty that is Mesut Özil’s first pass to set up Kola’s assist but it is the is just a fantastic testament to his attacking prowess.
In the video below, we have Kola and Mesut tracked through the whole play. As Arsenal’s play is confined to the right side of the field, Kola sticks to staying out wide. He knows (or hopes) that either play will come centrally or there will be a cross he can run on to at the far post.
He activates as soon as Mesut comes central with the ball. He makes his run that sees at the same time Kola starts it. The two are locked in and with the far defender tucked in, Kola has him beat and the pass is inch perfect to arrive right where Kola will be.
In this next example, done on the counter, Burnley have now decided to pay more attention to Kola’s runs but his speed and strength allow him to get into the box and open up space for Lacazette who doesn’t get the chance off but still its emblematic on how Kola impacted play.
These are only two examples of the effect Kola has on this side and it was something missing in the midweek tie to Tottenham and last weekend’s loss to Southampton. With Emery not using natural wide forwards, players like Kola are essential to Emery’s style of play coming off.
He was also effective defensively, as he was able to take the battering Burnley were trying to inflict on our players and give it back. He was strong outside and helped for the most part to neutralize the very limited threats Burnley had.
The Magic That is Mesut Özil
I’ve never been one to shy away from my fondness for Mesut Özil. I have written repeatedly he is a supreme talent we are lucky to have. I am not ignorant to the fact that there are problems between him and Emery and how he is used and the effort he gives.
In the losses to Southampton and Tottenham, we missed a creative presence. We had no one looking to exploit the spaces and gaps the opposition created to set us free on the attack and it wasted many of the runs that a player like Aubameyang was making.
It was an interesting choice by Emery to use Özil in a match against a team who are set up to deny just that kind of movement and creativity. But he did, and Mesut didn’t disappoint.
I spent a lot of my time watching Özil. He was doing typical Özil things off the ball. He moved rather languidly (as his style) trying to locate the places he could operate and set his teammates free.
In our preview, we talked about how you want to play to combat a low-block and that requires fluidity of movement. You want to force the defenders to move out of the rigidity of their positions and open gaps in the defensive lines.
In the first goal, this is exactly what Mesut does. He gets the ball just outside the 18, rotates lower to get the ball moves again outside the 18 and comes insides. He forces the defenders to make decisions. He also has a bit of magic that goes unnoticed when he freezes the defenders with the ever so faintest of dummies when he disguises his pass with his shoulder to fake a square pass to Aubameyang.
That little move keeps the defenders in check, opening the space behind that Kola is going to run into and makes the magic of that first pass what it was – just exquisite.
He ran hard at times and I saw numerous times he came back to press a man on the ball and forced a couple of errors.
There will always be those who say he doesn’t do it on the big days (a fallacy) and those who just don’t like that he doesn’t represent the late fire and brimstone “pashun” players of yesteryears, but Mesut Özil is the best creative player we have, and we need him for the rest of the season.
Defensive Personnel Issues
With Nacho Monreal’s substitution in the 37th minute, yet another Arsenal defender went out with a muscle-related injury. If you’re at home keeping score that means Mustafi, Koscielny (match fitness), Mavropanos, Holding and Bellering, along with Monreal are now out for undetermined periods of time.
There is some hope Mustafi and Koscielny could be available during the festive period but we’ve got a defensive crisis and I am not even focusing on the individual errors our defenders make.
I know people are crying out for wing players but the primary need for this team is a ball carrying CB (preferably with a left foot) and possibly another LB and/or RB. This is no longer a case of getting by its an urgent need and Arsenal can’t risk being passive in the January market.
There are defensive issues that needed addressing but at this point, we just need a decent defender who can stay fit long enough to help the cause. Whether it’s a loan or not Arsenal need defenders and we can’t go until January 31st waiting to get one in. When the window opens at Midnight on January 1, we need to have our first defending target locked in by 1 minute past the hour.
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